diff --git a/.github/workflows/build-wheels.yml b/.github/workflows/build-wheels.yml
index 23fbe37d4..36532bb65 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build-wheels.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build-wheels.yml
@@ -77,7 +77,10 @@ jobs:
   build-macos-arm:
     name: Build macOS ARM64 wheels
     if: ${{ !inputs.linux_only }}
-    runs-on: macos-14
+    # Pinned (not macos-latest) so an image rollover cannot change the release
+    # build unannounced. macos-14 was retired from GitHub Actions on 2026-11-02;
+    # see docs/dev-status.md "macOS wheel runner pinned to macos-15".
+    runs-on: macos-15
     strategy:
       matrix:
         python-version: ['3.9', '3.10', '3.11', '3.12', '3.13', '3.14', '3.15']
diff --git a/changelog.d/20261111-macos-15-wheel-runner.md b/changelog.d/20261111-macos-15-wheel-runner.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..b84365447
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog.d/20261111-macos-15-wheel-runner.md
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+### Internal
+- **Release wheel build moved off the retired `macos-14` runner**:
+  `build-wheels.yml`'s macOS ARM64 job now runs on `macos-15`. GitHub retired
+  the macOS 14 images from GitHub Actions on 2026-11-02, so every macOS wheel
+  job was rejected before starting and the next release could not have
+  published. No change to the library or to the published wheel set.
diff --git a/docs/dev-status.md b/docs/dev-status.md
index ad81dcdfd..ecba99058 100644
--- a/docs/dev-status.md
+++ b/docs/dev-status.md
@@ -174,6 +174,24 @@ Every workflow's Linux job uses `runs-on: ubuntu-24.04`, not `ubuntu-latest` (pi
 Un-pin only after both are fixed upstream and verified on a throwaway branch. The ARM
 matrix entries already used the GitHub-hosted `ubuntu-24.04-arm` label and are unchanged.
 
+## macOS wheel runner pinned to `macos-15`
+
+`build-wheels.yml`'s macOS ARM64 job uses `runs-on: macos-15` (changed from `macos-14` on
+2026-11-11). GitHub retired the macOS 14 images from GitHub Actions on 2026-11-02
+([runner-images#13518](https://github.com/actions/runner-images/issues/13518)); after that
+date every `macos-14` job is rejected before it starts (`The configuration
+'macos-14-arm64-us-default' is not supported`), and because `publish.yml`'s upload job
+`needs` the whole wheel matrix, a release could not publish at all.
+
+- The job only runs at release time and on a manual `release-build-check.yml` dispatch
+  (the PR-triggered run is `linux_only`), so a retired label is invisible to PR CI. Run
+  `gh workflow run release-build-check.yml --ref <branch>` after any runner-label change.
+- The label is pinned rather than `macos-latest` so an image rollover cannot change the
+  release build unannounced. When GitHub announces the macOS 15 retirement, move the pin
+  and re-run the full-matrix rehearsal, checking that the wheels keep the
+  `macosx_11_0_arm64` platform tag.
+- `rust-test.yml`'s test matrix intentionally stays on `macos-latest`.
+
 ## MMM tutorial environments (notebooks 29 / 30)
 
 The two executed MMM calibration tutorials need frameworks that CANNOT share one